Guggenheim Fellow Elijah Gowin Photographs Emotional Landscapes

Elijah Gowin says that his southern experiences inspired his early
photographs.But the
disastrous events of recent years – earthquakes, tsunamis, Katrina –
provoked Gowin to tell a larger story, one he describes as “lack of
control of our landscapes.

“I looked beyond my own horizon,” Gowin offers.The resulting images of baptism, falling figures and lonely
visages stir up feelings of insecurity and fragility.At the same time, the people in his pictures have a haunting
power and solidity.

Now Gowin’s style and techniques have earned him a Guggenheim
Fellowship.Gowin is one of
190 scholars, composers, artists and
scientists chosen from 2,600 applicants. An assistant professor
of Art and Art History, Gowin has been on the UMKC faculty since 2002.

Gowin began the application process with a project concept, a history
of his prior work and pieces from a May 2007
New York show.The photographs represented his artistic tools, resources and
experience; and he believed they were works he could expand and examine
in greater depth.

“Guggenheim may be the only foundation that asks for real objects
instead of a digital portfolio,” says Gowin.“I think having the actual photos in hand allows the selection
team to relate to the work they are evaluating.”

Gowin’s series, “Of Falling and Floating,” combines photographic
processes from the 19th century with the newest digital
tools.Gowin says that it
is not the technology that is remarkable, but his way of assembling
everything.Amateur photos
of people on trampolines are repositioned so that the figures appear to
be falling from the sky into an inhospitable landscape.

The Guggenheim Fellowship will allow Gowin to explore this theme by
photographing the cliff divers in
Mexico.He says the divers test their mortality and test themselves, but
with some assurance that they will survive and go back to their safe
lives.

Gowin’s works have been exhibited in
Japan,
China,
Holland
and Spain and are
exhibited in collections throughout the
United States, but he praises local
institutions for the early support that got him noticed.

“I was pushed to take a risk,” Gowin says, “by the Charlotte Street
Foundation.They sponsored
juried shows with critics and curators from outside
Kansas City, and then they gave me a grant.”

Karen Vorst, Dean, Arts and Science,
refers to Gowin as a terrific young artist.

“His Guggenheim Fellowship is evidence of
his extraordinary talent, and brings distinction to him as a productive
scholar,” Vorst
said.